Generally, state and federal laws have made is essential for businesses of all types and sizes to be concerned with the environmentally safe disposal of waste materials. Large manufacturers which produce large quantities of waste material have the capability of purchasing expensive equipment for the safe treatment of waste materials.
Companies which produce relatively small quantities of toxic materials cannot justify the cost of the complex equipment required according to the prior art and must ship the waste material to some place which accumulates large quantities of the waste material and has the necessary equipment for dealing with the waste material.
Solvents are one of the common types of waste materials which must be disposed of safely. Typically, the solvents are accumulated in drums and these drums are sent to a facility which can properly treat the solvents in order to protect the environment. Such an operation can be very costly and a hardship for a small organization.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,547,056 relates to a relatively small incinerator for burning materials including pathological matter, pesticides, toxic organic solids, liquid sludges and ordinary refuse. The incinerator includes a rotatable primary combustion chamber, means to rotate the chamber; means to introduce air into the chamber; a stationary chamber; connecting means between the chambers; a venturi throat means in the connecting means; and burner means associated with the venturi throat means.
In general, the material is mixed with air in the primary combustion chamber and ignited to combust. Material which will not support combustion requires external fuel. The final burning of combustible gases and any fine particulate material is accomplished, according to the patent, by a burner near the venturi throat.
The exhaust from the second furnace can include ash and finely divided particulates so a baffle and/or filtering system may be needed.
The incinerator is complex and costly to implement and small only by comparison to a large scale system.
There exists a significant need for a safe and reliable, but economical, apparatus and method for the disposal of materials which can be harmful to the environment.